Talk:Catholic Church

This article should be called Roman Catholic as the term 'catholic' is not unique to the Roman Church.
The Church of England claims to be not some ‘Protestant sect’ but part of the One, Holy, Catholic and Apostolic Church of God. So it is Catholic, but not Roman. This makes the identification of the Roman Catholic Church with the simple term 'Catholic' unsound. Urselius (talk) 09:01, 14 May 2023 (UTC)


 * The Church of England claims to be 'catholic' (little c). This article is about the Catholic (big C) Church. We've had this argument many many times before. The term 'catholic' is not unique to the Catholic Church, but the term 'Catholic' universally refers to the Catholic Church. -- Rockstone  Send me a message!  12:32, 14 May 2023 (UTC)
 * I concur, hence my request was put forth. Jpkenney2187 (talk) 16:56, 4 September 2023 (UTC)
 * We should ideally have a link at the top here to the many lengthy talk discussions over the years. I think both titles have been used at times. Fyi Urselius, the Orthodox churches also describe themselves as Catholic, but in normal speech we all know what "Catholic Church" means. Johnbod (talk) 13:10, 14 May 2023 (UTC)
 * Similarly, the Catholic Church also describes itself as orthodox.  --  Rockstone  Send me a message!  13:41, 14 May 2023 (UTC)
 * As mentioned by Johnbod and Rockstone, this has been hashed out before. The article was named "Roman Catholic Church" for many years before I was an editor but it was changed as, with only marginal exception, "Catholic Church" is the shortest and most widely used common name. Topics regarding catholicity have their own articles, which helps ensures those coming to Wikipedia see this encyclopedia isn't taking a side on what the universal church is. ~ Pbritti (talk) 15:29, 14 May 2023 (UTC)
 * We would have to decide if the Eastern Catholic Churches are part of the "Roman Catholic Church". —Lights and freedom (talk ~ contribs) 23:24, 22 May 2023 (UTC)
 * The reason it uses this name is that the term "catholic" is a colloquial term for the Roman Catholic Church. You wouldn't say that you are in a Catholic Church if you're Episcopalian, for example, even though that term would technically apply. UnbearableIsBad (talk) 22:50, 29 February 2024 (UTC)

Catholic Church and Roman Catholic Church are not synonymous. The Catholic Church includes the 24 rites mentioned in the introduction, one of which is the Roman, or Latin, rite (plus other churches that use the term "catholic"). As Lights and freedom points out, if the intention is for this article to be about the Roman Catholic Church, then it should be made clear that the 23 Eastern Catholic Churches are not part of the Roman Catholic Church. For reference, see https://www.catholic.com/qa/what-is-the-difference-between-the-roman-catholic-and-the-catholic-religion. Heepwah1959 (talk) 18:27, 17 August 2023 (UTC)
 * According to many reliable sources, the term "Roman Catholic Church" is a synonym for both the Latin Church and the Catholic Church as a whole. While I find it a misnomer–I'm a Catholic in communion with Rome, but I'm certainly not from Rome–"Roman Catholic" is such a common alternative name for the Church as a whole that we have to include it as an alternative name. It is also worth noting that the term "Roman Catholic" is also occasionally explicitly applied to Eastern Catholics. Yes, it's unbearably goofy, but it's accepted within certain academic conventions (and appears in a couple of Melkite liturgical books I own). ~ Pbritti (talk) 19:37, 17 August 2023 (UTC)
 * Despite what the reliable sources say, there is a difference. Granted, 98% of Catholics are Roman Catholics, it is still worth differentiating. Perhaps editing the Eastern Catholics information to redirect to their page would add clarity. And, for the sake of other ecclessial communities that use the term "catholic", perhaps dividing the article into headings accordingly. My two cents worth and not the hill I am willing to die on. As a professional catechist in the Roman rite, I do what I can to provide thorough information.Heepwah1959 (talk) 19:54, 17 August 2023 (UTC)
 * I know this might be a bit pedantic, but the terms Roman Rite and Roman Catholic do not line up. The Roman rite is the major subset of the Latin Rite. Nobody would say that to be a Roman Catholic one has to practice the Roman Rite because that would imply that the Milanese Catholics or ordinariate Catholics are not "Roman Catholic". Latin Catholic would be the more appropriate term to use for all Westerners. This has precedence as in the East those who practiced the Latin rite were often called "Latins". see:Massacre of the Latins
 * While "Roman Catholic" has most often been used to describe Latins (mostly because your average person does not know the Eastern Catholics exist) I have seen it used to describe anyone in communion with the See of Rome, to include easterners.. The term is an exonym that is sometimes casually used by the church itself, but usually applied by those outside communion. I am all for culling the term from anything except quotations and having a seperate page dedicated to the term itself as an exonym explaining all this silly nuance. Magjozs (talk) 13:54, 6 October 2023 (UTC)
 * Although the biggest Catholic denomination is Roman Catholicism, Roman Catholicism and Catholicism cannot be terms that are used interchangeably. Many sources talk about them in this way because it is the most practiced form of Catholicism. Other forms are mentioned in this article as well; it should be taken out. Merkurïïï (talk) 19:03, 21 November 2023 (UTC)


 * Believe it or not, this question has come up before. See the three "requested move" discussions linked at the top of the page, and many tens of thousands of words in the archives. Johnbod (talk) 14:13, 6 October 2023 (UTC)

Carneval in Britain
In the otherwise admirable article on carnival,  it is stated that Carnival is a tradition in Roman Catholic and Anglican countries. In fact in Britain apart from a few small local festivals, mostly held in the summer,  the only large celebrations are of Caribbean origin, such as the Notting Hill Carnival in London,  which only dates back to the 1950s. Mikrolysa 24 (talk) 09:30, 12 February 2024 (UTC)

Official URL is unnecessarily long.
The official URL for the Catholic Church is too long. If you search www.vatican.va it will simply redirect to https://www.vatican.va/content/vatican/en.html. But since the official URL is linked to the wikidata item it automatically displays the longer link which is unnecessary. It would be better if the article showed "vatican.va" as the official website instead of the longer link. EXANXC (talk) 03:33, 1 March 2024 (UTC)

What if the article is fully protected?
Only admins would edit Catholic Church? But it would be unclear. 130.105.50.149 (talk) 21:04, 12 March 2024 (UTC)
 * The article is not fully protected, but rather semi-protected. Other editors are able to edit this page, but you have to be a registered account that is both more than four days old and has at least four edits to English Wikipedia. If you wish to edit this article without registering or signing in, you may request an edit on this talk page using the Edit semi-protected template. ~ Pbritti (talk) 22:07, 12 March 2024 (UTC)
 * Exactly, editin' an article is not easy at all, it may took a whole process to you edit, otherwise, just "admins can edit this article" [Note: Would it worthwhile using Edit semi-protected template?] 177.105.94.73 (talk) 16:29, 29 May 2024 (UTC)

Siding with the Roman Catholic church against other branches of Catholicism
Such an ironic edit summary:
 * "This, again, has been discussed at length. The Eastern Orthodox Church maintains that it has always been the real catholic church. For NPOV reasons, we do not take a side in this dispute."

There is a long history here, with schisms and claims to being the "real" catholic and original Christian church. This article and some editors are taking sides in the dispute. -- Valjean (talk) ( PING me ) 23:38, 31 May 2024 (UTC)
 * Valjean, if you're referring to the name of the article not being "Roman Catholic Church", you're several years behind on that consensus. It seems like you followed me to this article after I changed "Roman Catholic" to "Catholic Church" on the article for Jean Valjean considering your first edits here occurring shortly afterwards. If you have a grudge against me, please let it go. ~ Pbritti (talk) 00:42, 1 June 2024 (UTC)
 * I have absolutely no grudge against you. How I discovered what happened here is irrelevant. We all discover things in different ways, and it's legitimate. I just found your edit summary ironic as you are taking sides for the Roman Catholic church in its efforts to take a patent on the word Catholic. Historically, that's not legitimate. Ever since the Reformation, it has always been called the Roman Catholic church by everyone, including themselves, because the Bishop of Rome is the Pope. It's easy to find what you call the Catholic Church calling itself the Roman Catholic Church. Here's just one example. (search it for Roman)
 * This has been done to distinguish it from the Greek and Russian Orthodox churches, and any other "Eastern" variations of Catholicism. They all are offshoots of the original Christian church, what became known as the Roman Catholic Church. I'm not sure, but the church may have used "Roman Catholic" before the Reformation.
 * Now you are erasing the name of the Roman Catholic Church from the original title (while you do write "also known as the Roman Catholic Church"), even though it is still used by the church as a self-description. That's really odd and an example of historical revisionism in favor of ONE branch of Catholic Christianity. You are taking sides, rather than recognizing that Catholic is an umbrella term that covers several subdivisions.
 * I wonder how long it will be before you minimize or delete the follow paragraph from the article?
 * "While the Roman Church has been used to describe the pope's Diocese of Rome since the Fall of the Western Roman Empire and into the Early Middle Ages (6th–10th century), Roman Catholic Church has been applied to the whole church in the English language since the Protestant Reformation in the late 16th century.[35] Further, some will refer to the Latin Church as Roman Catholic in distinction from the Eastern Catholic churches.[36] "Roman Catholic" has occasionally appeared also in documents produced both by the Holy See,[note 3] and notably used by certain national episcopal conferences and local dioceses.[note 4]"
 * "Roman Catholic Church has been applied to the whole church in the English language since the Protestant Reformation in the late 16th century.[35]" Your historical revisionism goes against that fact. Roman Catholic Church is the common name and should remain the title here. -- Valjean (talk) ( PING me ) 02:17, 1 June 2024 (UTC)
 * This has been done to distinguish it from the Greek and Russian Orthodox churches, and any other "Eastern" variations of Catholicism. That comment is a pretty strong indicator that you're a bit out of your depth, reminiscent of your inability to parse the Eastern Orthodox Church and the Eastern Catholic Churches in comments you made here. Also, your claim of not having a grudge against me and then accusing me of plotting to delete content without any evidence is—unlike your original post here—ironic. ~ Pbritti (talk) 02:32, 1 June 2024 (UTC)